Novel Microarray Design for Molecular Serotyping of Shiga Toxin-Producing Escherichia coli Strains Isolated from Fresh Produce
ABSTRACTSerotypingEscherichia coliis a cumbersome and complex procedure due to the existence of large numbers of O- and H-antigen types. It can also be unreliable, as many Shiga toxin-producingE. coli(STEC) strains isolated from fresh produce cannot be typed by serology or have only partial serotypes. The FDAE. coliidentification (FDA-ECID) microarray, designed for characterizing pathogenicE. coli, contains a molecular serotyping component, which was evaluated here for its efficacy. Analysis of a panel of 75 referenceE. colistrains showed that the array correctly identified the O and H types in 97% and 98% of the strains, respectively. Comparative analysis of 73 produce STEC strains showed that serology and the array identified 37% and 50% of the O types, respectively, and that the array was able to identify 16 strains that could not be O serotyped. Furthermore, the array identified the H types of 97% of the produce STEC strains compared to 65% by serology, including six strains that were mistyped by serology. These results show that the array is an effective alternative to serology in serotyping environmentalE. coliisolates.